I'm looking for a lawyer.
Setting up as a sole proprietor in the Philippines means a short legal review and a clean BIR / DTI / mayor's registration. The bookkeeping side is now sorted with UpWorth Business Solutions. The legal slot is still open, and I'm happy to trade a full custom website (the same one you'd build with my order tool) in exchange for ongoing retainer service.
Cash works too. But trade is more fun.
One role still open.
Lawyer / Legal Counsel
Review my Master Service Agreement and Mutual NDA templates. Help me line up Privacy Policy + Terms with Philippine law and our clients abroad. On call when a client wants a non-standard amendment.
- A few hours of review per month on average.
- Quick email turnaround when something time-sensitive comes up.
- Bonus: experience with freelancer / IT services contracts, IP assignment, and cross-border clients.
UpWorth Business Solutions
My official bookkeeper and accountant partner. Bookkeeping and BIR filings. They handle DTI registration, BIR Form 1901, books of accounts, official receipts, the Mayor's Permit, and ongoing BIR filings.
Visit them on FacebookSymmetric, no money changes hands.
Each side gives one-time work plus an ongoing retainer. We sign both directions in writing so there is no fuzziness, then we get out of each other's way. A monthly check-in, 30 to 60 minutes, where we both flag anything the other should know about.
Website + monthly upkeep.
- One-time: a full custom website for your firm. Same scope and quality as the work on my portfolio, configured for your industry, deployed on Vercel, yours to keep.
- Ongoing retainer: hosting watch, content edits, small updates, and on-call for the little stuff. The same retainer I sell to paying clients for ₱1,000 a month, free for you.
Retail equivalent: ₱20,000+ build, ₱1,000/mo upkeep.
Legal review + ongoing counsel.
- One-time: a clean review of my NDA, Master Service Agreement, Privacy Policy, and Terms of Use. Flag anything that needs tightening for Philippine law and for our cross-border clients.
- Ongoing retainer: a few hours of review per month when a client wants a non-standard amendment, plus on-call email turnaround when something time-sensitive comes up.
Retail equivalent: similar order of magnitude. We can match the scope on both sides.
No money changes hands. No invoices in either direction. Each side keeps the other on a free retainer for at least 12 months from signing. After that we re-evaluate, and if it is still working we keep going.
The PH sole-proprietor checklist I'm working through.
In case you want context before reaching out, these are the public references I used to map out the registration plan. Ideal partner already knows them by heart.
- DTI Business Name Registration System, for registering the trade name.
- BIR, TIN and BIR Form 1901, for self-employed registration with the BIR.
- Department of Trade and Industry, general MSME registration guidance.
- Data Privacy Act of 2012 (RA 10173), applies to anyone running a business that collects personal data online.
- E-Commerce Act of 2000 (RA 8792), gives legal weight to electronic signatures and contracts.
- SSS, Self-employed registration, and similar for PhilHealth and Pag-IBIG.
I'll get there with or without help. But I'd rather get there with a partner. Erick